"Acclaimed presidential historian Mark K. Updegrove, head of the LBJ Foundation, offers an illuminating account of John F. Kennedy's brief but transformative tenure in the White House"-- Provided by publisher.

Prologue -- I: The torch. Transition -- "Let us begin" -- The second son -- Rising star -- "The center of the action" -- II. The fire. "How could we have been so stupid?" -- "You will never make it through Alabama" -- Showdown in Vienna -- Jackie -- The wall -- III. The brink. The brothers Kennedy -- Keeping the peace -- "We choose to go to the moon" -- "Going for broke" -- Ole Miss -- "The gravest issues" -- "Burden of choice" -- The knot -- "The antithesis of a politician" -- "Grace under pressure" -- IV. The peak. Birmingham -- Lyndon -- "To turn the world away from war" -- September song -- The march -- A coup in Vietnam -- Dallas -- "Let us continue" -- Epilogue.